Locked Heartstrings
by HanaritsuKrizza
Summary: [Lip Locked Sequel] The fourth time it happened, it escalated into something unexpected and both of them didn't know what to do.


Note: Bam! It's a sequel of Lip Locked( /s/11187097/1/Lip-Locked). I finally finished it after months of pondering whether or not to make one, but oh well, it's because I'm thankful for everyone who appreciated it especially to all the lovelies who left me reviews. Thanks a ton! By the way, this is also ONLY a one-shot.

 _I do not own Pandora Hearts (but I own Lip Locked)._

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 _ **...**_

Dinner was going smoothly for both Oz and Alice. As usual, the girl was busying herself at the meat prepared at the table, not at all paying attention to the pair of eyes watching her from time to time even though she could clearly sense it, and the boy, quite oblivious to the eyes scrutinizing him, was enjoying himself at his own meal. For a particular raven haired though, this supposed dinner time served as his observing time.

Truthfully speaking, Gilbert was never against the idea of Oz and the _stupid rabbit_ having that kind of relationship. If they wanted to take that step then be it, he's willing to support them as long as they're responsible enough to handle it. After all, Oz and Alice have a remarkably strong bond which was tried and tested by fate and by time. However, it seemed to him that they were only playing around without fully understanding the whole meaning of the way they had fun. This was the reason why it bothered him and definitely not because he felt left out with them not telling him anything. No, it's absolutely not because of that.

Gilbert trailed his eyes on Alice as she, very unladylike, ate her food. Well, some things never change even after a full century. He then glanced at Oz next. In Gilbert's eyes, the boy seemed high spirited tonight and he could even hear a very soft yet cheerful hum coming from him. But probably, Gilbert was only exaggerating things, then again, he is always a little exaggerated when it comes to Oz.

Gilbert cleared his throat in an attempt to get the attention of his companions. He was relieved when Oz looked at him and wasn't a bit surprised when Alice ignored him. Even still, he was determined to extract some answers from them before the night would end.

When Oz noticed the expression from Gil's face, which gave the impression of waiting for some clarifications, he remembered the events earlier. He took a swift glance at Alice and decided to do all the explanation, himself, when he saw her uninterested phase. He took a small sip of water before facing Gil.

"About earlier, Gil, I'm sorry. I mean, we're sorry." Oz said as he gave him an apologetic look partnered with a small pleading smile which he only shows when he's guilty for doing something wrong.

Gilbert was taken aback at the way Oz started. He never thought and never expected that he would apologize and act this way considering their nonchalant attitude earlier when he caught them. Perhaps he realized that their way of fooling around was quite inappropriate, was what Gilbert thought. He stayed silent and let the boy carry on.

"I know you're mad because of what happened but we really didn't mean to, okay maybe a little, but what happened a while ago was just me and Alice having fun but before that, we really intended to finish the cake but then-"

"Wait, Oz. I'm not really mad about that." Gilbert stopped him immediately when the boy started fidgeting while blabbering nonsense.

"No, I know you're mad. We won't do it again, this would be the last time, right Alice?" Oz looked at the girl who was only half-listening at him. After a moment, she finally gave a short "hmm" implying the affirmative and went back on her business. Oz looked back at Gil and offered a small smile then he raised his right hand. "I promise you this."

At this, Gilbert didn't know what to say next. It's nice that they're considerate and thoughtful but wasn't it wrong to stop it 'cause they assumed he's mad which in reality, he wasn't?

"No, Oz. I'm not really against it, to be quite honest, it's just that-" And Gilbert had forgotten what he was going to say because Oz was looking at him with an understanding expression and smiling at him very warmly.

"It's okay Gil. I know you're really mad. It was a real mess, we really did it this time. We were at fault. We promise to never touch the kitchen again without your permission. Right, Alice?" Oz repeated what he did previously but this time, Alice swallowed the food in her mouth and replied proper words. "Yeah, so don't be too uptight, Gi~l." she said, intentionally dragging his name a bit.

However, Alice's teasing became unheard because he was busy processing what Oz said just now. _A real mess? Did it this time? Touch the kitchen?_ When it clicked him, Gilbert almost face-palmed himself with the table.

He let out a long sigh of defeat and watched the two chatter about something he really didn't care. Knowing that he wouldn't get a satisfying answer from them if they were like this, he, although reluctant, decided to drop it for the second time of the day. Frankly, he was having a suspicion that Oz was doing this on purpose because he refused to spell out their affair. No, Gilbert wasn't sulking, alright. At any rate, he was ascertained to make them tell him some more for things to be straight out too.

...

The next day, Gilbert made a vow to never take his eyes off of the two as long as it's possible even if he had to secretly spy at them. He must figure out what they were doing when they thought no one was watching them. He ought to know what was it that they were hiding from him, if ever there really was.

He put his plan into action when the afternoon came. Both Oz and Alice were settled on the sofa reading different type of books. He concluded that Oz's love for books has already rubbed off onto Alice due to the fact that every time he saw him holding a book, Alice had one too, and whenever Oz was studying something, Alice wanted to learn it too.

"I'm going to sleep in the room." he announced before walking past them. He gave them a brief glance and didn't miss the concerned look both of them sent him which he ignored heavy-heartedly ((we all know Gil's condition but hey, let's not make this story depressing)).

When he closed the door, or pretended to close the door, he heard Oz mumbling something like "I hope Gil's fine." and it made him a little guilty for worrying him. Despite that, he continued what he started. He quietly made himself comfortable behind the door where he could still clearly see their actions. He noted how Alice was constantly glancing in his way and sighing softly afterwards. Maybe she was also worried about him.

Twenty minutes had already passed since Gilbert peeked on them from his room but nothing exceptional happened. Alice had stopped sending him worried glances and they were occasionally talking and laughing but most of the time, their focus was on the book each of them was holding. He waited for another ten minutes and when none of them made any unusual move, he gave up and lied on his bed to rest. Exhausted from over-thinking, he followed his own words and took a short nap.

...

Whenever there was an opportunity to snoop around, Gilbert was taking it open-handedly. Be it furtively and secretly or a little unclosed but not so obvious.

Every morning, he was always grabbing the newspaper and pretending to be so engrossed by it, but in reality, he was carefully listening to their conversation, giving them infrequent glances every now and then. Sometimes, he would join them a little so that he wouldn't appear odd. After that, he would go back to concealing his attention using the newspaper.

After three days or so, Gilbert found this method futile and tiring. They sure expressed a lot in the mornings but all they talked about was their schooling and of course, meat. Gilbert was happy that their lives were finally as normal as they can be, but for now, he had a mission he was resolute to accomplish.

Gilbert also tried staying up late in the nights. Since it didn't, in any case, put too much strain on his body, he found no problem with it. The three of them have separate rooms so if he wanted to spy on them, he must stay where he could see them but would still remain hidden, that is the corner of the living room where a single-person divan was placed and where the moonlight can't reach. He would rest there for about an hour or two before going back to his own room.

This practice, though, had some result. It may be small, but it's still a fruit. Gilbert learned that up until now, when Alice doesn't want to sleep alone, she would go to Oz's room and they would sleep, only sleep, together. Another thing is that Oz was always leaving a space on his bed if ever Alice would want to come over.

At the first night that Gilbert saw Alice walking in front of Oz's room in the middle of the night, he panicked. He unconsciously held his breath while waiting for her to fully enter the room and close the door. When she did, he followed her very cautiously, minding the cringing sound of his footsteps on the floorboard. Standing in front of the door, he questioned himself if he was ready to finally unveil the mystery that he's been trying to solve. Truthfully, he was having a second thought, several _what if's_ entered his mind endlessly.

After a long moment of contemplating, Gilbert decided to do this once and for all, since he was already this close, anyway. Before opening the door, he pressed his ear and tried listening to warn himself, if ever. When he didn't hear any unusual sound, he twisted the knob and braced himself for what was to come. When he found the two only sleeping side by side, he let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like he was just really over thinking and over emphasizing things. He was such a worrywart, really. He watched them for a full minute before finally closing the door and let them sleep in peace.

The next and last thing that Gilbert did, which was also a little shameless for his part, was to stalked them. Basically, it was just like his first attempt. He was intently but privately observing them, watching every move that they made when they're alone together. He would hide behind doors and peek on them, he would act like he was asleep and sneak a glimpse of them, he would put on a false front of being unconcerned with what their doing but in reality, all his attention was on them. When he had to leave, he would immediately come back and pretend that he forgot something, then leave again.

Nevertheless, he didn't find any disbelieving behavior from the two in the full week of his investigation. He finally made up his mind to give up and let it come when it's time to come. After all, if they really have something going on, he was sure they would tell him, if not now, may be in time that they are ready and he would gladly wait for that. In the end, good thing comes to those who wait, right? Right.

* * *

...

One fine afternoon, on a more spacious than the other side of the medium sized living room where they reside, Oz, Alice and Gil were spending time doing something actually progressive, or at least to Oz. Not long ago, he learned the basics of Acrylic based painting, therefore, he was making something to show them the skill he acquired. At first, he asked Alice to be his muse and the girl eagerly agreed. However, after only less than five minutes, Alice got bored and eventually conceded and Oz could only laugh because he kinda expected that to happened.

In the middle of their, rather Oz's art-making project, Gil excused himself in claim of having an appointment to one of his acquaintances. Both of them bid him goodbye and went back to what they were doing, with Oz resuming his landscape painting and with Alice watching him from behind, half-amused and half-expectant.

After about twenty minutes, Alice sighed and visibly relaxed her shoulders as if a load of burden had been removed. Oz looked at her questioningly. "What's wrong, Alice?"

"What's wrong with _Seaweed Head_? He's been acting weird and creepy lately." Alice answered, her tone was laced with a little annoyance but still inquiring.

"What do you mean?" Oz asked looking back to his work, but his mind was waiting for her reply so he was just staring at it for a while.

"He was keeping an eye on you, or on me, or maybe on both of us, I don't know. But in a really strange way." she responded and Oz looked at her asking her to elaborate.

Alice sighed and walked around the house pausing beside the threshold while checking for something Oz wasn't sure what. "Didn't you know," she began, "every time he says he's going out," she walked again across the window and took a peek outside, "he stays behind the door or where ever he could hide and watches us for thirty minutes before actually leaving. I don't know what he's up to but he's being peculiar."

Now that Oz thought about it, he also noticed the strange behavior of Gil every time they were eating, or his constant checking of them every night especially whenever Alice was sleeping over. He was truly acting odd this past week, although Oz didn't know that he's been doing whenever he left.

When he carefully and thoroughly deliberated it, only one thing came into his mind. He looked at Alice who was now seated at the divan, arms-crossed, waiting for him to say something. He mused if he should bring this topic to light, nonetheless, he decided to talk it out.

"I think it might have something to do with what happened in the kitchen last time." Oz said quite nervously and waited for her reaction. Instantly, Alice gave him a confused look, then after a second, she appeared to be thinking hard of something, and when realization finally hit her, she showed him the cutest apprehending look making him smile heartily. Adding to the adorable expression Alice just showed him, she slightly blushed upon registering that 'that incident' wasn't at all an incident.

Seeing the tint of pink from Alice's cheeks and the way she averted her eyes created quite an impact for him. He felt his heart skipping a beat and his own cheeks slightly heating. Even still, he didn't turned his eyes away from her because Alice's flushed face is too rare of a chance to miss. Upon staring at her, he spotted a smudge of something green on her left cheek. He chuckled when he discerned it as the paint he was using.

Alice looked at him with slight irritation when she heard him and thought he was laughing at her. "What?" she asked, crossing her legs in the process, she raised her eyebrow and gave him a sharp look.

Oz put the paint brush that he had been holding with his right hand on the side table and approached her while still holding the paint pallet on his left hand. "How on earth did you manage to smear a paint on your face when you're not even the one painting?" he questioned as he wiped the spot on Alice's cheek using his thumb, luckily, it was clean from any paint that could only dirty her face even more.

Although Alice was surprised at his sudden action, she didn't dislike it at all so she let him do as he please without saying anything. When Oz was this close to her, she couldn't help but stare at his face and examine it. She found it relaxing to look at. Everything about him screams sentimentality and it enlivens her heart. While Oz was still mildly rubbing her cheek, she was busy accrediting him inside her mind.

To her, Oz is someone she wants to always stay with. His presence alone warms her heart. Back on their previous years, she was willing to give up her life if it means she could save Oz and Alice thinks that even now, she would do anything if it means she could help him. He was, is, and will always be the most important for her.

Oz halted when he came to see how her eyes were boring holes at him, yet were too distracted to settle on his eyes, she must be thinking something deep. He furrowed his brows and stared back at her but gazing completely at her amethyst orbs. When Alice's eyes finally met his, she blinked twice and mirrored him.

Oz's hand was still holding her face and all he had to do is prod her chin on a better angle, lean a little bit more and he could already press his lips with hers. Hence, he did. He slowly brushed his lips on hers, attempting to part them, when she did, he licked her upper lip and mildly nibbled at it. Alice wasn't refusing him and in fact was kissing him back but she didn't look too enthusiast about it. She was only lazily copying him with minimal movements.

When Oz thought Alice was not in the mood for it, he slowed down and had planned on pulling back. That's when Alice bit him gently but with force. She grabbed his shirt collar and started kissing him fervently. Oz internally smiled and kissed her back with equal passion. He asked the permission to enter her mouth by licking a long stripe on her lower lip and she more than willingly granted it. Tasting and feeling it again after quite a long time felt so good to him, it gave him a burning sensation in the middle of his chest and all he wanted to do is to own her completely. Alice undeniably became his drug.

Oz removed his hand from her chin and placed it at the head of the chair behind her so as to not lose his balance, after all, he was still holding the pallet with his left hand. Alice was still not backing out on their fight for dominance so he let his tongue dance totally in sync with hers. Even when they could almost hear their lungs screaming for oxygen, they made no move of pulling apart, just slowing down to help them breath through their nose.

For a moment, Oz lost his balance because Alice let out a soft moan after he lightly sucked her tongue, so he accidentally dropped the pallet and the little amount of acrylic paint on it. It produced a rather loud thump on the floor since it was a thick wooden type. Alice got startled by it so she suddenly stopped, opened her eyes, rose from where she sat and searched for the source of the disrupting noise. She found the thing behind the chair she was seated, the small amount of paint now messily splattered on the floor.

"Sorry." Oz offered apologetically and Alice only looked at him. She noticed that she was still gripping his shirt even after they stood and thought of letting it go. After staring at his face once again, she disregarded the previous idea and chose to continue where they left off lest Oz seemed to agree upon.

This time, Alice was the one who tried to enter his mouth. She successfully invaded him, obtaining the advantage of him being taken aback by the situation and triumphantly dominated him and it shocked Oz because she was really determined to win. The heated kiss he was receiving from Alice was so overwhelming and he couldn't fight back the moans of pure pleasure from drawing out of his throat.

Alice trudged and unconsciously dragged him as a result of the strong desire she felt while kissing him. Meanwhile, Oz grabbed her waist as to not separate with her because he was being totally manhandled by her. She was powerful, alright, then again, right now, Oz wasn't focusing on anything not Alice's kisses and the way they felt so extremely good.

They made a short trip from the living room up to the pantry, in where Oz bumped his behind and made him lean his weight, without disconnecting their lips. By now, Alice's hands were clasping a handful of Oz's hair while his hands were carefully tracing her petite back. Ultimately, they pulled apart because any second now will become dangerous for their lungs if they failed to fill it, besides, the earlier they could get some air, the earlier they could keep on going.

Oz gazed at Alice's heavy-lidded eyes, he had a feeling his were the mirror image of them. He then focused his attention on her lips. They were red and swollen and so inviting. They had this magnetic appeal which attracted his own lips and they were very alluring to look at. He didn't waste another moment and leaned closer to share another kiss with her. In this round, Oz did not let her easily win the battle for dominance, so this time, he bravely but calmly slid his hand inside her shirt which was a long sleeve blouse, quite different from the usual dresses she wears.

Alice moaned when she felt his hands roaming around her bare back and so Oz took advantage of the opening. He swiftly entered it and gently caressed her entire mouth. He was very pleased with himself when Alice didn't seem to complain and when she started eliciting faint groans and few mewls out of delight. Alice was now relying on her arms clinging on his shoulder to support her as she let him dominate her completely. She stepped further so that she was standing in between his legs and tried experimenting by rubbing her knee on his inner thigh, a little higher from his left knee.

Oz didn't expect her to attack from there so he hadn't had the chance to restrain the low growl he just emitted. He guessed it was a payback for earlier. Nevertheless, the fiery kisses remained intense, both of them showed no sign of retirement.

The sounds both of them were creating by now were unlike the sweet moans from before. They were becoming more and more promiscuous and the volume did increased too. Alice's leg was still rubbing his thighs and it's heading dangerously higher. Whereas Oz's hands were stroking her smooth unblemished skin, sliding from her back up to the sides and they too, were getting into the dangerous and more intimate zone.

When Oz accidentally brushed her chest area, he unintentionally-on-purposed fondled it leisurely. Alice moaned very loudly, a type of sound that was too sensual, very far from the innocent one, and it shocked her big time. She stopped all at once and clasped her mouth using both of her hands. Oz was also surprised by the sudden sound but he was even more surprised to see, rather feel his hands inside her shirt and exactly on top of her chest. He instantaneously extracted them and looked at her still covering her mouth albeit not even an echo could be heard.

They exchanged looks of utter shock and confusion as they realized the situation they were currently engaged. Both of them suddenly felt the heat coiling up on their stomachs and the unusually rapid beats of their hearts. Then, as if on cue, both of them blushed very hard, the heat each of them emitting was now evident on the color of their faces. In spite of that, their eyes remained locked to each other because they were not entirely sure how to react.

Alice blinked a few times, trying to concentrate on the occurrence at hand, but no matter how she attempted to focus, she just couldn't because she felt really weird and she didn't know what but there was something that she wanted, even needed to do. Truthfully, it alarmed her.

On the other hand, Oz was slowly going back to his senses and he could slightly distinguish this from that. He had an idea except he wasn't certain about it. However, it was totally unexpected for things to escalate this way. He swore it was never his plan to have this kind of aftermath. More so, the slight fear on Alice's eyes worried him and it made him feel a little guilty.

"I'm sorry. um.. Were you hurt?" Oz doesn't really know what to say so he just inquired her well-being.

"I'm fine." Alice shook her head. The panic was now vanishing from her but the confusion was still plastered on her face.

"I think we should stop for now." he said, minding the fact that both of them didn't have a clue what to do next in this circumstances.

"Yeah, we should.", said Alice while lightly nodding her head. "I'll just wash my face." she added before heading to the bathroom.

Oz's eyes followed her until she entered the bathroom, then, he slumped down and clutched his face using both of his hands. He just hoped things wouldn't be awkward between them, not now that he's becoming really aware of his feelings for Alice and he didn't want to ruin what they had build.

...

Alice was getting irritated by the way she constantly stirred around her bed. It's already past midnight and here she was, still wide awake and quite agitated. The reason was one, she felt too hot with the blankets on but felt too cold without them, and two, she just couldn't stop thinking. The one who made that shameless sound earlier was her, yet it felt so foreign to her. She wasn't even sure where it came from. Furthermore, the funny feeling she had was something she felt for the first time and she didn't know how to describe it nor how to deal with it.

Exasperatedly, she let out a grunt out of outright annoyance. Why on earth did she have to suffer from over-thinking? It was very out of her character.

Alice threw away the blanket at the corner of her room and decided to go to Oz. Since Oz could comfort her without even doing anything, she figured she could fall asleep if she felt Oz's presence close to her. She went out of the room and was expecting to see Gilbert on his usual spot at this time of the night but saw no one. Shrugging, she made her way to Oz's room.

Since she was dropping off of his room every once in a while, Alice didn't feet the need to knock, he must be sleeping already, anyway. So when she opened the door, it surprised her to find Oz lying on one side of his bed but still fully awake.

"Why are you not sleeping?" She asked, startling him a bit.

Oz looked at her with wide-eyes, "Alice?" was all he could voice out, he didn't imagine her going to him after what just happened a while ago, then again, Alice is always honest and true. She may be unfamiliar with some of her emotions, but if it's with Oz, she could be sincere and expressive as much as she wants to.

He sat up from his bed when Alice approached him. She crossed her arms and waited for him to say something but after a minute of silence, she quietly gave up and shrugged. She lied face down beside Oz and made herself comfortable whereas Oz went back to lying down and proceeded on staring at the ceiling, his train of thoughts creating a huge knot inside his brain now that the subject was in close proximity. He sneaked a glance at the girl beside him but failed to see her face as it was in the opposite of his viewpoint.

During that time, Alice was starting to loosen up and she could already feel the fatigue kicking out. Though for some reason, she could sense Oz glimpsing at her. Trying to confirm her suspicion, she moved her head to face him and caught him looking at her.

Alice's arms were firmly placed on her sides while she was facing him. On the contrary, Oz's left arm was supporting his head and the other was on his right side, beside Alice, and he was also facing her. The two of them stared at each other's eyes as if lost on each other's souls.

"What are you thinking about?" Oz hesitantly broke the comfortable silence between them due to the sudden curiosity of what she had in mind when she looked at him like that.

Alice blinked a few times before answering him. "It's humiliating. That noise.", she paused and out of embarrassment, she turned her face slightly hidden from his point of view. "It wasn't bad but it felt weird."

Oz trailed his eyes on her, he was torn between smiling at how she shied away and himself getting embarrassed.

"I feel the same way, Alice." Alice heard him murmur and she went back on staring at him. With no apparent reason, she knew that his words had more than one meaning and they weighed heavier than what it seemed.

On the surface of having an extending eye-contact with him, Alice once again felt the magnet that's been pulling her. A single glance on his lips sent an underlying urge to kiss him, and Lord knows how much Alice wanted to, were it not for the uneasy thoughts that ghosted on her mind, she would've already exchanged passionate kisses with him. Probably, Oz was feeling the same because, through her peripheral vision, she saw how he was lightly grasping the bed sheet, and yet, he looked like he was also getting strongly attracted and all he wanted to do was to kiss her. He really was giving the impression of someone trying very hard to hold back.

Perhaps the event earlier was an eye opener for both of them that if they continue doing such things, it's bound to end into something they may or may not have expected. Sooner or Later, they must make a conclusion whether to put an end to it or to go further, that is, if they were prepared to take responsibility for their actions. Likewise, both of them were aware that their heartstrings were already connected and it's just too impossible to simply quit it.

Alice had hoped that coming over at Oz's room would finally help her sleep, yet here she was, drowning on her own ocean of thoughts. Without wasting anymore of the time, she recalled of doing something that would surely ease the heavy tension in the room. She closed the distance between them, kissed him on the cheek and bit him specially hard.

"Goodnight, Oz." she mumbled and turned her face away from him, hiding the fact that it was tinted pink.

Oz's initial reaction was to be shocked but then it advanced on laughing to himself because leave it to Alice to soothe the mental strain by doing something unexpected and... violent.

Well, however it was, Oz was thankful that Alice could easily relieve the mood and he was glad that she stayed with him. They maybe lost at some point for now but he was sure they would eventually draw closer to what was supposed to come. As long as Alice is with him, he's content of how the things are. After all, their heartstrings were already locked together since who knows when.

 **...**

* * *

And that is all! I'm sorry, I don't know where to go from there so... it became a sorry excuse of a sequel.

I'm accepting any forms of reaction, from calm and normal to bloody and trashy, just send me a review if you have some. Thanks a lot for checking it out!

 _ps. I rewatched and reread Pandora Hearts over and over again and I'm still so in love with it!_


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